Sunday, 24 April 2016

Kraków - Mo-Ja Cafe - Breakfast All Day!

My dearest hearts,

Krakow is a lovely place to have tummy filling breakfast and there are multiple options from which you can choose. The sad part is that in most of the places they serve it only until 11:30 - 12:30 the latest! I think that they do not take into consideration that some travellers are owl persons and rather prefer the later half of the day to explore. They wake up late, most of the times after 10 am even, and by the time they have a shower and dress up, there are not many places that still serve breakfast. I know that the best option when you travel and want to see things is to wake up early and head for the museum - that usually start around 9 so you should have breakfast by that time ;) but hey! Everyone's body reacts in a different way and people have different internal clocks ticking. But for those visiting Kraków and that enjoy a long sleep in the morning, then this place I tell you about today may be an oasis for you.

Of course, you will be able to find stuff to eat and dozen of coffee shops and bistros and places where you could buy salads and sandwiches, but for me it's hard to imagine breakfast without eggs: scrambled, poached, fried - you name it! A place where you can sit down and relax, plan the day and wait for a hot meal to get you starting for the day. That kind of place is the newly opened Mo-Ja Cafe on Starowislna 14, Kazimierz region (Jewish district), very close to the city center (less than 10 min brisk walk) and with a lot of tram stops in the area. Mo-Ja Cafe serves breakfast ALL DAY! Yes, you read that right and you can also read that on their menu and on their Facebook page ;) warm eggs daily! And at any hour of the day! Heaven!

Now I am not a vegan nor a vegetarian but I like to check their menu options either way and I did find several dishes that would be great for the people who don't like or simply cannot eat meat or dairy products. For myself I will always look at the meat options and especially if they have bacon related goodies - which Mo-Ja Cafe surely has ;) To start with what I really loved about Mo-Ja:

- the fact that there are menus both in Polish and in English (separately).

- the way the menu is created to fit one A4 page double side, managing to capture quite a lovely menu with options that would satisfy anyone. Don't you just hate it when the menus are so long that you just simply cannot figure out what you want?!

- the daily specials and the special offers written down both in Polish and in English on the blackboard, as you enter the restaurant.

- the tea options on the menu and the possibly to choose and mix the taste of fresh juices that you want. They have no lemonade but I choose a combination of fresh grapefruit juice with mint and lemon and it was deliciously refreshing!

- the cakes in the window looked simply amazing and fresh and dine with real fruits and not the ones out of the box. I have not yet tried those as I am tying to cut more and more of the sweets I eat, but it looking at them made my mouth water - especially the marshmallow tart with sour cherries... yum!

- the slow and not high volume music that makes you relax and just unwind smoothly.

- the smooth and quick waiters. They know English well and they are able to guide you in case you have a special order, like me wanting some lemonade ;) so that at the end you are a happy bumblebee.

- the seating options - there are 2 rooms and they are minimalistic decorated. There are seats for 2, 4 or more if you join in the tables; there are seats by the wall, center room and (my favourite) by the window, where you can enjoy having a look at the old buildings and the bystanders passing by. It has high chairs (first room) and low seating options with big and smooth pillows for your back (2nd room).

- The Scrambled Eggs with Bacon Breakfast! It's so yummy it tastes like the scrambles eggs my granny used to make and besides the bacon in it you will also find small pieces of onion tails giving it a fresh taste. For the extra egg(s) if you want a larger portion, you pay 1 zloty extra for each egg ;)

- the fact that the breakfast (scrambled eggs) is served directly in the small pan that they were made. Adorable! :)

- the option to pay by cash or by card (pay pass also works here). Don't forget to leave a tip as that is not included in the price!

The things I did not quite like:

- sadly enough I think Mo-Ja Cafe is not a family friendly place, nor a place friendly for people with disabilities. As you enter from the Starowislna street, you need to go up 3 stairs that are tough to handle for people in wheelchair and there is no other option. The menu does not have kids options and I did not see any special seats that they could use.

- the seating options in the first room may be tough to handle for pregnant women or people without a good balance as they are all tall stools, bar - like option. Better head to the second room where you have the normal height and you can also use the additional pillows.

- the amount of food may be too small for the people used to a huge breakfast with big portions of... everything! There is one, maybe 2 small eggs, scrambled with loads of bacon + 3 small slices of bread (baguette) + a small cube of butter (not homemade :( which is sad!) = the scrambled eggs with bacon breakfast. It was enough for me, but next time I think I might ask for the extra egg for 1 zloty as I am a huge fan of eggs and these were really well done ;)

- the WiFi network - I saw there was a network with Mo-Ja Cafe name but I could not see the password on the menu, blackboard... anywhere :( I guess it was not for the public.

For the scrambled eggs with bacon breakfast and the freshly squeezed grapefruit juice with mint and lemon I had to pay 22 zloty ;) but bear in mind that is not service included, so if you enjoyed the place, liked the food and you were served nicely (like I did!) than it would be nice to leave at least a 10% tip and share the love by liking and reviewing their Facebook page. Sharing is caring! And they serve breakfast all day, so kudos to that! :) so if ever you are in Kraków and you are in a need for a warm delicious portion of scrambled eggs with bacon, make sure you go to Mo-Ja Cafe on Starowislna 14! And let me know what you think after ;) looking forward to hearing from y'all!

P.S. All pictures were taken with the camera from my Samsung S4, no filter added. Trust me, the place is more adorable and welcoming than what you can see here. Also, when I was taking the pictures it was not sunny and it had been raining, so wipe away the gloom and imagine Mo-Ja Cafe in sunny weather! I, for sure, will come back and try some more goodies ;)